Japan's 9.0 earthquake

Share this article

Devastated infrastructure, houses and buildings are seen in Otsuchi, Japan, on March 14, three days after northeastern coastal towns were struck by the earthquake and tsunami.

2 of 55

Mark Baker/AP

A man holds his baby as they are scanned for radiation levels in Koriyama, Japan, on March 13. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged two nuclear reactors at a power plant in the area, and at least one of them appeared to be going through a partial meltdown, raising fears of a radiation leak.

3 of 55

Tokyo Power Electric Co.

Fukushima Daiichi power plant's Unit 1 is seen after an explosion in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture on Saturday. The explosion is said to have not breached the reactor housing.

4 of 55

AP

Ships burn at the Bay of Kesennuma in northeastern Japan.

5 of 55

AP

A train sits derailed in Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday.

6 of 55

US Air Force

US Air Force personnel load relief supplies onto a C-17 at March Air Force Base in California. The plane and supplies are bound for earthquake-stricken Japan.

A ship lifted up into a town by a tsunami following an earthquake is seen in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Saturday. Japan confronted devastation along its northeastern coast on Saturday, with fires raging and parts of some cities under water after a massive earthquake and tsunami that likely killed at least 1,000 people.

9 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

Vehicles and debris seen pushed into a home in Minami Soma, Fukushima, northern Japan, Saturday, after Japan's biggest recorded earthquake slammed into its eastern coast Friday.

10 of 55

Center for Tsunami Research/NOAA/Reuters

An energy map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows the intensity of the tsunami in the Pacific Ocean caused by the magnitude 8.9 earthquake which struck Japan on Friday. Thousands of people fled their homes along the Pacific coast of North and South America on Friday as a tsunami triggered by Japan's massive earthquake reached the region but appeared to spare it from major damage.

11 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

A tsunami-drifted house sits under a bridge in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Saturday morning, after Japan's biggest recorded earthquake slammed into its eastern coast Friday.

12 of 55

Kyodo News/Reuters

Cargo containers scattered by a tsunami following an earthquake are seen in Sendai, northeastern Japan, Saturday. Japan confronted devastation along its northeastern coast on Saturday, with fires raging and parts of some cities under water after a massive earthquake and tsunami that likely killed at least 1,000 people.

13 of 55

Yasushi Kanno/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP

Houses burn and the Natori River is flooded by tsunami tidal waves in the city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Friday, after strong earthquakes hit the area.

14 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

People queue to receive water distributed at a park in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, a day after Japan's biggest recorded earthquake slammed into its eastern coast, Saturday.

15 of 55

Kyodo News/Reuters

Earthquake and tsunami victims make their way past debris and water in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday. Japan confronted devastation along its northeastern coast with fires raging and parts of some cities under water after a massive earthquake and tsunami that likely killed at least 1,000 people.

16 of 55

Kyodo News/Reuters

A ship tossed ashore by a tsunami following an earthquake is seen in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, Saturday. Japan confronted devastation along its northeastern coast on Saturday, with fires raging and parts of some cities under water after a massive earthquake and tsunami that likely killed at least 1,000 people.

17 of 55

Kyodo News/Reuters

People make their way past cars carried by a tsunami to the entrance of an elementary school after an earthquake in Sendai, northeastern Japan.

18 of 55

Keiichi Nakane/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP

People look at a burning port of Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, engulfed by dense smoke and flames Friday, after a strong earthquake-triggered tsunami hit the area, igniting leaked crude oil in the water.

19 of 55

Junji Kurokawa/AP

A light plane mingles with debris following a massive tsunami triggered by a huge earthquake at Sendai airport in Sendai, northern Japan, Saturday.

20 of 55

Naoki Ueda/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP

An SOS sign is drawn on the partially snow-covered ground of a school in Minami Sanrikucho in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Saturday morning, a day after a strong earthquake-triggered tsunami hit the area.

21 of 55

Reuters/Yomiuri

Buildings burn following an earthquake in Yamada, Japan. The biggest earthquake to hit Japan since records began 140 years ago struck the northeast coast on March 11, triggering a 32-foot tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses, ships, cars, and farm buildings on fire.

22 of 55

Noah Berger/AP/File

With a tsunami warning in effect for northern California, two men watch the waves at San Francisco's Ocean Beach on March 11. The tsunami warnings came after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan.

23 of 55

Kyodo/Reuters

A whirlpool is seen near Oarai City, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 11. The biggest earthquake to hit Japan on record struck the northeast coast on Friday, triggering a 10-meter tsunami that swept away everything in its path, including houses, ships, cars, and farm buildings on fire.

Houses burn in Natori, Japan, on March 11 after Japan was struck by a strong earthquake off its northeastern coast earlier in the day.

26 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

People take shelter at a temporary evacuation center with no electricity on March 11 in Sendai, Japan, after the country was struck by an earthquake.

27 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

Traffic is jammed on a road in Sendai city, Japan, after a powerful earthquake – the largest in Japan's recorded history – slammed the eastern coast on March 11.

28 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

People gather outside Sendai station after a powerful earthquake hit northern Japan on March 11.

29 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

Light planes and vehicles sit among the debris after they were swept by a tsumani that struck Sendai airport in northern Japan on March 11.

30 of 55

NHK TV/AP

In this video image taken from Japan's NHK TV, water surrounds the airport building at Sendai airport, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, on March 11 following a massive earthquake. A magnitude 8.9 earthquake slammed Japan's northeastern coast, unleashing a 13-foot tsunami that swept boats, cars, buildings, and tons of debris miles inland.

31 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

Flames rise from houses and debris half submerged by a tsunami in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 11.

32 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

Tarmac, parking lot, and surrounding area are covered with mud and debris carried by a tsunami at Sendai airport in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 11.

33 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

People walk past a ruined bus stop which was crushed by part of fallen outer wall of a nearby building in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, on March 11.

34 of 55

Hiro Komae/AP

Train passengers watch TV at Tokyo's Shinagawa train station to get first-hand information on a very strong earthquake on March 11.

35 of 55

Itsuo Inouye/AP

Tokyo Fire Department rescue workers arrive at Kudan Kaikan in Tokyo as local media said its ceiling was damaged after a strong earthquake and injured people inside the hall on March 11.

36 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

Part of houses swallowed by a tsunami burn in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, on March 11.

37 of 55

Toru Hanai/Reuters

Residents walk between grid-locked vehicles on their way home among chaotic traffic in central Tokyo, after an earthquake off the coast of northern Japan on March 11.

38 of 55

Itsuo Inouye/AP

Hotel employees squat down in horror at the hotel's entrance in Tokyo after a strong earthquake hit Japan on March 11.

39 of 55

Kyodo/Reuters

Evacuees stand around Shinjuku Central Park in Tokyo on March 11.

40 of 55

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Stranded people take a rest at a hotel lobby in Tokyo after the subway and train were suspended after an earthquake on March 11.

41 of 55

Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Stranded people take a rest at a hotel lobby in Tokyo after subway and train were suspended after an earthquake on March 11.

42 of 55

Itsuo Inouye/AP

A crowd of people walk in a Tokyo street as no public transport was available after a strong earthquake hit eastern Japan on March 11.

43 of 55

Yuriko Naka/Reuters

A man sits on the ground in a closed and empty subway station, as people are unable to return home due to disruption to transportation, after an earthquake off the coast of northern Japan on March 11.

44 of 55

Yuriko Nakao/Reuters

A man looks for supplies in a store in Tokyo that has almost sold out of food and drink as people are unable to return home after an earthquake on March 11.

45 of 55

Toru Hanai/Reuters

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan (c.) reacts as he feels an earthquake while in a committee meeting in the upper house of parliament in Tokyo, on March 11.

46 of 55

Koji Sasahara/AP

Yurikamome train passengers walk on the elevated track towards Shiodome Station in Tokyo near Tokyo Bay, on March 11, shortly after a massive earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern coast.

47 of 55

Kyodo News/Reuters

A building burns in the Odaiba district of Tokyo after a massive earthquake hit the northeast of Japan on March 11. There were several strong aftershocks and a warning of a 10-meter tsunami following the quake, which also caused buildings to shake violently in the capital, Tokyo.

48 of 55

Kyodo News/AP

An area flooded by a tsunami in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, after Japan was struck by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off its northeastern coast March 11.

49 of 55

NHK/Reuters

A tsunami carries buildings across fields in Sendai in this still image taken from video footage on March 11.

50 of 55

NHK/AP

Vehicles being washed away by a tsunami in Japan after that country was struck by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off its northeastern coast on March 11.

51 of 55

NHK/Reuters

A tsunami carries buildings across fields in Sendai in this still image taken from video footage on March 11.

52 of 55

Kyodo News/Reuters

People take shelter as a ceiling collapses in a bookstore during an earthquake in Sendai, northeastern Japan, on March 11.

53 of 55

Koji Sasahara/AP

Office workers in Tokyo's Shiodome district near Tokyo Bay stand on the pedestrian deck, observing surrounding high-rise office and hotel buildings swaying on March 11, shortly after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern coast.

54 of 55

Toru Hanai/Reuters

A woman wearing a helmet walks through traffic chaos as people are forced to walk home between gridlocked vehicles in central Tokyo after an earthquake off the coast of northern Japan on March 11.